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I have owned a car for 18 years and the last time it was on…

I have owned a car...

I have owned a car for 18 years and the last time it was on the road was 12 years ago. When moving house to a new one across the road (dual carriage way). I had contacted a recovery firm to pick up the vehicle to take to the new house. the advised me as it was a busy road to push the vehicle on to the pavment to make it easier for them to collect. As the road I live on is a dual carriageway, and even at quiet times very busy. I pushed the vehicle onto the wide pavement next door to my house so not obstructing pedestrians. Witin a hour the car had been taken by DVLA.

The facts are

1, the car as been stored at this address for the lst 10 years 2, the car is not road worthy3, the car is registered in my mothers name at a diffrent address4, I can prove I was moving house on the date of the offence.5, the road is the 3 Lane A52 that runs through Nottingham/ Debry (very busy)6, The car as mould and is dirty on the pictures the DVLA took. And you can seen the car has not been used for a very long time.7, I can get peoples statments to this car never coming out of my house previously.8, I dont know if this makes any diffrence but the car was not Sorn as the last time it was taxed (1998)was before sorn came into force.9, I may have the last Mot (1998) to prove it has not done much mileage in the last 12 years.

10,My mother is getting procecuted but it was me that comitted the offence.11, the car is a classic thats the reason its not been scrapped.

Also may I had if this car ould have been on the road for 12 years with no road tax it would be showing that the dvla are not doing a good job at finding untaxed vehicles!

I understand a Offence as been commited but by me and not my mother.

What are the best options.

Plead guilty show up and explain the reasons why the offence was commited. Bringing all possible evidence and hope they are sympathetic?

Plead not guilty as my mother did not commit the ofence? as I will be with her in court as a whitness to say it was me who commited it.

1983 so it 27 years old, I found out after commiting the offence that they had extended the age of what was classed as a classic car and would not need road tax, it used to be 25 years, but I think they have increased it.

So can this be summarised to say that the registered keeper of a car is being prosecuted because it was on road untaxed?

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Customer reply replied 8 years ago

Yes which is my mother who can not drive, the car was parked n the pavement waiting for recovery to my new house across the road As I had tennants moving in that day. This can all be proved with paper work etc. Yes I know there is a offence commited but what grounds, will they take these mitigating circumstances into acccount if I go to court with my documentation photos of the cars deeds to the houses tenants contracts etc?

If I got to court with my mother as her witness, to say it was a mistake I made, expalain the circumstances etc. will they take all this into consideration.

I do realise now if I filled the statments of facts and said I purchased it that day of my mother that they would not be abale to back track for back duty. as I would have been the new owner responsible from the offence date onwards. Am I correct in saying this?

The maximum penualty on conviction is £1000 or five time sthe amount of duty which ever is greater.

The procescutor will also ask ou to pay a minimum contribution towards legal cost.

In addition if you were the vehicles keeper, the procecutor will ask the court to order you to pay £1380.42, being the amount equal to teh outstanding amount of duty for the period 01/09/1998 - 03/11/2009.

So to me it reads there is definatly the fine of £1380.42 plus what ever the court decides on the other amount. The car already cost me £350 to get back from the pound. it was clearley not being used on the road.

Because they don't do out of court settlements. This is a criminal offence like any other.

I don't understand the remaining point?

If I've answered your original question please click on accept so that I can get feedback. I will continue to help.

Ask Your Own UK Law Question

Customer reply replied 8 years ago

The orriginal question is at the las t paragraph at the end of the first message:

What are the best options. Plead guilty show up and explain the reasons why the offence was commited. Bringing all possible evidence and hope they are sympathetic? Plead not guilty as my mother did not commit the ofence? as I will be with her in court as a whitness to say it was me who commited it. Or other suggetions please.

I still think that the DVLA are going to try and claim the 12 years back duty!

I will accept once this is answered as I do not know how this site works, as I am new to it.

OK. First she has to plead guilty to the actual offence for which she is charged as there is no defence for the reasons we've covered.

You will all need to attend court and make sure you plead on the basis that it was only on this one occasion. The Magistrates probably would accept that as it would not make a substantial difference to the sentence. If they do not, you will have to fight evidence to that effect and provide paperwork. I think you would be likely to win that battle since the DVLA have no evidence that it was on the road at any other time except an inference from the fact that it was on this occasion. You can call evidence to the contrary and they have to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. Its likely that even Magistrates would find in your favour.

With that ruling, you would be in an incredibly strong position to resist any back tax arising from it. In effect, the court at which you pleaded excepted that only one year should have been paid.

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DISCLAIMER: Answers from Experts on JustAnswer are not substitutes for the advice of an attorney. JustAnswer is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Expert above is not your attorney, and the response above is not legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains.

The responses above are from individual Experts, not JustAnswer. The site and services are provided “as is”. To view the verified credential of an Expert, click on the “Verified” symbol in the Expert’s profile. This site is not for emergency questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service (last updated February 8, 2012).